SPOKANE, Wash. — East Valley School District announced on Tuesday they are ending a program that’s been in place for years in favor of a new approach.
On April 29, EVSD sent out a letter to parents announcing it had canceled its summer school program.
“Several factors were taken into account, including student participation rates, staffing availability, and a renewed focus on embedding robust support systems throughout the regular school year,” the letter reads in part.
Although the summer school program had been offered for years, the district said it was no longer serving struggling students.
“It is not meeting the rigor and expectations that we have for our students. And we have other ways in which our students can get credit recovery,” said Mat Orndorff, Director of Secondary Teaching & Learning for East Valley School District.
Instead of summer school, EVSD students who are struggling will attend Knight’s Academy, a credit recovery class held during the regular school day.
The program has been active since September, so the district said it already knows what to expect.
EVSD parent Jordan Cruz’s 11th grader participated in Knight’s Academy this year, but didn’t find it to be so helpful.
“[It’s not that] effective in making sure that kids are staying on track, whereas we traditionally got that kind of support in a summer school setting, so that’s just been my personal experience. I can’t speak to those of other families,” she said.
Cruz said she wishes there were more options than just Knight’s Academy, because it could have a negative impact on kids who are already falling behind.
“There is an added stress to stay on top of the multiple credits that you are recovering and then also dealing with the regular workload,” she said. “A student who has a family emergency in the spring would have been able to recover in the summer, and now that’s no longer an option,”
Orndorff said the district believes investing resources during the school year through Knight’s Academy ensures all students have access to credit recovery programs.
The district also said it alleviates students needing to worry about transportation or conflicting with vacations and other summer obligations.
“We just wanted to shift to a model that was [during] a time where all of our kids have access to it,” Orndorff said.
Most other neighboring large school districts are continuing with traditional summer school models. However, West Valley School District does not offer summer school and hasn’t for some time now.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.